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Why the Ark of the Covenant Still Matters Today

The Ark of the Covenant has always been more than a sacred object. It represented the very presence of God among His people. Yet in 1 Samuel, Israel treated it like a good luck charm—carrying it into battle without true obedience or reverence. The result? Defeat, lamentation, and confusion.

This ancient account carries a timeless warning: God's presence cannot be manipulated. His power is tied to holiness, obedience, and alignment with His will.

20 Years of Lament That Brought No Deliverance

In 1 Samuel 7, the nation of Israel spent 20 years in lamentation. They cried out, but nothing changed. Why? Because lament without repentance is powerless. Israel wanted deliverance without obedience. They wanted God's blessing without putting away their idols.

Many believers today repeat this same mistake—mistaking sorrow for transformation. But as Samuel told Israel, true breakthrough requires action: putting away false gods, turning hearts fully toward the Lord, and walking in reverence.

Samuel's Call: Put Away Your Idols

Samuel's message to Israel was clear:

"If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only, and He will deliver you." (1 Samuel 7:3)

God's presence is not something we add to our own plans. He is not an accessory to our will. He is Lord. Just as Israel had to put away their idols, we too must confront the subtle "idols" in our lives—whether it's comfort, culture, or compromise.

The Danger of Misusing God's Presence

When the Philistines captured the Ark, they quickly learned it carried God's holiness with it. Plagues broke out, idols fell, and fear spread. Even Israel discovered that mishandling the Ark brought judgment, not blessing.

This shows us a sobering truth: God's presence is holy. To treat it lightly—whether through superstition, empty religion, or casual irreverence—is dangerous. Our worship must be marked by reverence, not routine.

From Lamentation to Breakthrough

Israel's deliverance finally came when obedience replaced empty lamentation. Once they put away idols and returned to the Lord wholeheartedly, God thundered against their enemies and gave them victory.

The same principle is true today. Deliverance, freedom, and breakthrough don't come by wishing or waiting—they come through obedience. When we align our lives with God's will, His presence moves powerfully on our behalf.

Key Takeaways for Believers Today

• The Ark reminds us of God's holiness. His presence is not to be manipulated but revered.

• Lament without obedience changes nothing. Transformation requires repentance and action.

• God calls us to put away our idols. Anything that takes His rightful place in our lives must be surrendered.

• True breakthrough comes through obedience. Aligning with God's will always precedes victory.

Align With God's Will

The story of the Ark in 1 Samuel is more than history—it's a call to action. If you've been waiting for deliverance, ask yourself: Have I aligned with God's will? Have I put away the idols? Have I chosen obedience over empty lament?

Breakthrough is not far from those who wholeheartedly return to the Lord.

Where To Dive In

(00:08) The Significance of God's Presence
(10:35) The Power of the Ark
(28:23) The Return of God's Power
(34:14) Understanding God's Ways and Holiness
(49:28) Understanding Biblical Lamentation
(01:00:49) The Call to Obedience and Holiness

Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

00:08 – Jaime Luce (Host)
Welcome to the Jaime Luce podcast. Thank you for taking time with me today. It's a pleasure to be with you. If you're new to this podcast, it is my hope and my endeavor always to dig into the scriptures that we might truly know this God that we serve. Not just be known by him, but for us to know him. We know he knows everything there is to know about us. He's the one who created us, who gave us life, but we want to know him. We want to be in a relationship with him that supersedes every other relationship. Everything that we deal with in life, we want to know we can go to our creator, who doesn't just know our life but knows the things that we will deal with in this life, who understands what's going on in this world that he has created and who is seated on the throne above this world in authority over all things, to be able to impart to us, through his word, what we might need to know for our personal lives. With whatever it is that we're dealing with, we can find answers based off of the closeness and the relationship that we have with him. The closer we are to him, the closer we are to the answers that we need for our life, the closer we are to the one who gives to us what we have need of, who is there walking that road with us, who has a plan for our life. So it is my pleasure to be in the word with you today. We are going to be in the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 7, is where the majority of what I want to say comes from. But we will be hitting several chapters here and giving you an overview of this idea and really what the idea is is to this idea and really what the idea is is to.

02:11
We all know that, no matter where we come from, what our backgrounds are, what our pedigrees are, what our financial status is, it doesn't matter who you are in this world, what you have and you don't have, who you know, who you don't know, know who you don't know. We will all run into difficult times and we will all seek at some point God's intervention. If you're a Christian, I'm hoping that that's the first thing we do. But we want to seek his intervention to make a difference in our life, and there are some major keys to be understood as we are going through these passages today to understand God, to understand the walk of life that we are to walk and how that equates to God's expectations.

03:05
I know that there is a temptation in our culture that we have so easily framed and made a Jesus out of our own thoughts, out of our own opinions, out of our culture's opinions. And if you are not in the word yourself to know what God says about himself, to know what he says pleases him and doesn't please him, it would be so easy to get this wrong. In our culture today. There are those who are high profile people that if I were to say a couple names today, you'd know exactly who I'm talking about. It would need no explanation. And when I say them, I could tell you that they call themselves Christians, they name Jesus as the one they love, and yet they make statements or life decisions that are contrary to what's written in scripture. And if you don't know what the Scripture says, you won't know that that's contrary and you might follow their example.

04:12
But we are to follow Christ's example. We are to look at how God dealt with those even before Jesus. So we're talking about Old Testament today, but in those passages we will see how men dealt with God and how God dealt with man. And he says of himself that I am the Lord, thy God. I change not. He tells us that he is the same yesterday, today and forever. And the purpose of understanding scripture, the purpose of digging into scripture, doing Bible studies, the purpose is so that not only do I know this God, but then I, in turn, based off of what I know, know how to navigate this life that I'm living and do so in a way that brings glory to him and blessing to my life.

05:06
So, with that said, I want us to go first to 1 Samuel. Oh, we're going to be in 4, 5, 6, and 7. So, if you want to get some places ready, go to 1 Samuel 4, and I will get there in a minute, but you can put your finger there and then we'll move to five. But we're going to read several passages today. There are, like I said, keys that we're going to look at today and how to deal with the attacks of the enemy, how to deal with the struggles of the things that are fighting against us, the things that bring pressure against us. And to me, the keys that we're going to talk about today are, literally they are. I can't say for sure that it's the key, but I would say it is a top three. Say for sure that it's the key, but I would say it is a top three. This is a top three key to deal with every attack that you will ever face from the enemy.

06:10
But first, we need a little bit of context here. So there are many kinds of battles that we will face, and yours might not look exactly the same as mine, but in theory they're the same in a few aspects. Not every battle is from the enemy. The devil is not behind every single thing that you find a struggle in life. And not every battle is yours, not every battle is mine. There were times when the Lord said you won't have to fight this battle. This battle isn't yours, it's the Lord's. So sometimes there is a battle that we need to engage in, sometimes we're not, sometimes it's the Lord's battle. But regardless those struggles, those attacks against us, and in particular, those that we need the Lord to bring a deliverance for, that's the kind we want to talk about today, the kind that we need God to step in and bring about some type of deliverance or victory, something that major needs to change for us.

07:14
And in 1 Samuel 4-6, we see that the Philistines have captured the Ark of the Covenant. We're going to talk about that and that the Ark, just as a. If you didn't hear the series or not series, if you didn't hear last week's message on Samuel, it would be good to go back and hear that. But in essence, the children of Israel from the time of Moses, from the time that they built the Ark of the Covenant according to God's design, they didn't just make what they wanted, what they thought that it should look like. It was made according to instructions and blueprints that God gave Moses. So this Ark was to house the presence of God that he chose in all of his vastness, this God who is outside of time, who has no limits in space. There's nothing that can contain him. And yet he voluntarily took his fullness and subjected himself into our time and into our space and told them that he would be with them and that his glory and his presence would be found on the mercy seat of this Ark of the Covenant. And this Ark of the Covenant then represented and was known to the people of Israel as God's presence. He was their present, he was their present.

08:46
It's when the priests would come in to minister and the presence of God would so fill the tabernacle and it would be like a smoke, like a cloud of smoke, and it would be so thick, his presence would be so thick that they couldn't minister I don't know my first visit to Houston, texas the air in the summertime it was, I can't remember if it was July or August, something like that it was so hot and the air was so thick. I never felt air that thick, it was almost difficult to breathe. And that understanding that experience helped me to visualize God's presence in the form of a cloud coming in and being so thick If you can kind of see that happening that you wouldn't be able to really do everything you want to do. It changes what your abilities are and what you can do and how you can function because of the thickness of the air. And in the same way, god's presence would affect people this way. God's presence should affect us this way now. It should affect what we do and how we do it. What we do and how we do it. His presence should affect how I think, what I'm attending to, what I'm allowed to do and what I shouldn't be doing. These are all important aspects and, knowing this, the children of Israel regarded this Ark of the Covenant as God's presence, as they should, because he came and made himself present there. So, in this understanding, let me explain.

10:35
The Ark of the Covenant, in case you don't know, housed three items inside, under the mercy seat, inside the box portion of this Ark of the Covenant, there were three things. There was manna in a gold dish. The manna represented God's provision. You had the Ten Commandments on the stone that God wrote with his hand, and those represented God's instruction, and those represented God's instruction, his word, his ways, are found in those Ten Commandments. And then there was the rod that God that budded. That God caused to bud when there was a rebellion that rose up, challenging that Aaron should be the priest, and God said no, aaron is the one I chose. And God had told them to take each of the tribes, the heads of those tribes, to take a rod and to lay it before the Lord with their name written on it, and in the morning, the one that buds literally shoots forth overnight the flowers, the leaves, the buds and everything, the almonds, and that night. That was God's choice. And when they came the next morning, it was Aaron's rod that budded and God was saying you don't choose, I choose. That's why we don't just say I'm going to be a pastor. No, the Lord calls. It's God's choice.

12:03
We don't get to treat what belongs to God with such familiarity that we don't show awe and reverence that it's his and we are simply stewards and we obey what he tells us to do. So that was the ark, that was God's presence, and the children of Israel understood that the ark was considered God's presence. So in Exodus you don't have to turn there, but Exodus 25, verse 8, it said this and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. So God's saying I want to come and bring my presence, be present with you. So he's going to have them build this sanctuary. But then, if you jump to verse 22, it says there I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. So he's saying it's in this place that I have chosen to speak to you, to instruct you, and this is our heart. This is partly why we I mean we'll call a church a sanctuary, a place where we go to be instructed in the things and in the ways of God, to be taught to understand him, to know him. And they were to understand this and their response then was to understand the power and the presence of God according to the symbolism of the ark. Okay, so they understood and responded to the ark of the testimony with the knowledge that God chose to make his presence known there. Okay, I'm hoping I'm making that clear.

14:18
Okay, so right now I want you to go to first Samuel, chapter four. I'll turn there with you 1 Samuel, chapter 4, and we're going to read verses 1 through 11. I want you to hear this and I'm sure that you will see very quickly on your own, but just be listening with spiritual ears. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now, israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines drew up in the line against Israel and when the battle spread, israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about 4,000 men on the field of battle. And when the people came to the camp, the elders of Israel said why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines defeated us today, before the Philistines, let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh that it may come among us and save us from the power of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim, and the two sons of Eli, hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. So the ones who brought it were Eli's sons, hophni and Phinehas. We talked about them last week. You can see that they have an understanding. We need God. We were strongly defeated. We're having to fight this battle against the Philistines, and when they would engage in this kind of battle, if you lost, you were like slaves to the people you lost to. Okay, so they are dealing with being servants to the Philistines instead of free, which was God's intention from the time they came out of Egypt never to go into bondage again.

16:29
Verse 5,. As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. I mean this is a powerful display and shout of rejoicing that the ark is now amongst them. And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said what does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean? And when they leaned, when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, the Philistines were afraid, for they said a God. Now it shows you, they're not, how little understanding they have of God. They say a God they don't understand he's the God. A God has come into the camp. And they said woe to us, for nothing like this has happened before. This has happened before. Woe to us, who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?

17:30
So again, there's some misunderstanding there. These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage and be men. Now. That's a good, that's a good admonishment in life period. But take courage and be men, oh philistines, lest you become slaves to the hebrews, as they have been to you. So they're telling them, if you don't win this, you're going to be their slave, just like they've been your slave. So again he says be men and fight. So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated and they fled, every man to his home, and there was a very great slaughter, for 30,000 foot soldiers of Israel fell and the ark of God was captured and the two sons of Eli, hophni and Phinehas, died. Now again, go back and listen to last week if you didn't listen to that. But God told Eli that his sons would die at the same time, on the same day. The next portion we're going to skip over, that's the death of Eli. When news comes back that the ark has been captured and that his sons are dead, eli himself falls over in his chair and breaks his neck and he dies as well.

19:01
But chapter five tells us how God dealt with the Philistines for stealing or, quote unquote, capturing the ark. So they think this is just a God, like how they've got a God, and that they've captured this God and that they were able to overtake and overthrow and overpower this God. Overpower this God. But God has not. He, god, is wanting to deal with your enemies. Even when you don't get it right, even when we mess it up, god refuses to be um under any other God influence. He is not subject to anything or anyone. So though they have captured per se the Ark of the Covenant, god is saying no, you have no power over me, no authority over me, you haven't captured anything. I don't want us to see this Go to chapter 5.

19:56
We're going to read verse 1 through 7. And it says when the Philistines captured the Ark of God, they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, which is their God, and set it up beside Dagon. And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they put Dagon and the ark of the covenant next to each other. When they come in in the morning, dagon is now facing the ark, fallen over, face down in a bowing position before God, in a bowing position before the Ark of the Covenant. Okay, verse oh, I didn't finish reading that, sorry. Face down on the ground before the Ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon this is still verse three and put him back in his place. But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord again, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying, cut off, on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

21:39
Okay, verse 6. And the hand of the Lord was heavy against the people of Ashdod and he terrified and afflicted them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. Now, when I looked up this word, tumors, it could literally mean like tumors or boils, but the consensus was, generally speaking, that this, because this word also means this, and this is what they think because, anyway, that they were hemorrhoids, they called them the golden rods, golden rods. So they were hemorrhoids, they were tortured, they were tormented, afflicted, terrified by this. Let's continue reading. And when the men of Ashdod saw how things were, they said the ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for his hand is hard against us and against Dagon, our God. So that's I will pick up in chapter six in a moment.

22:53
So this passage I want you to see this because this is literally God teaching us how does what we just read apply to our lives? It's a great story of how God's dealing with them. It's kind of funny actually too, but this is important for us to understand what is relative to our lives about this that God is showing us that he deals with those who improperly or maybe I could another the Ark of the Covenant represented God's presence. When challenged, when handled, they weren't to pick it up, only the priests were allowed to carry it on their shoulders. When handled wrong, when improperly used, illegally used, this is when God says okay, you've probably seen this somewhere in if you've been a Christian very long in Christian. Well, even if you haven't been, because it would be on news on the news or there would be reports about it People who have called themselves Christians had platforms, had position, had podiums, whatever, over large groups of people, and then they misuse the name of God and by misusing it, god allows whatever destruction to come because they have misrepresented him, they have mishandled him, they have illegally used his name.

24:28
However, you want to say that, to be able to understand this principle, god has a way that you deal with him. We don't get to choose it. He does and he will deal with them, and this is the evidence is shown with. This is how God deals with his presence. He dealt with it with the children of Israel. They weren't actually serving God the way they were supposed to, so they thought that they could just bring the ark and that would fix everything. And yet they were still defeated and many died, tens of thousands died. Then you have Hophni and Phinehas, who should have known better. Have Hophni and Phinehas, who should have known better.

25:15
These were priests who worked in the sanctuary of God, in the tabernacle of God, who had very specific duties, and they had been laid out and continued since it was instituted, and yet they did not. We learned this last week. But they did not regard God or his ways. They did nothing to care for and protect how God is seen or dealt with or how the things of God are dealt with. They were completely rebellious when it came to the things of God, even though they quote unquote were maybe pastors in the church. Right, they were priests who served and God dealt with them for improperly using and talking about handling, carrying his presence. No one asked Samuel should the Ark of the Covenant be taken to this place? Should we bring the Ark up? No one asked him. Hophni and Phinehas just took him. That's an illegal transaction, that's improper use, and because of that they were dealt with. That was the day their lives were required of them. They both died.

26:29
This is now also a picture of how God deals with the non-Christians per se, though it's hard to consider Phineas and Hophni Christians, but anyway. Well, christians, that's a Christ word, but those who serve God. The Philistines, who were outside of the family of God, evidenced by even by the way they talked about him that they didn't even know how to address. They didn't know if it was one God or many gods. They didn't understand this God. They knew enough about what they had heard about his power, but they did not understand his authority and his holiness, and they didn't understand his ways, and therefore God dealt with them. They were holding something that did not belong to them and God dealt severely with them because of it. So, that's, we need to read these things to understand how this applies to us, not just how it applied to them. How does this apply to us?

27:26
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28:23
All right, now let's go to chapter six. I want you to jump to verse 12, 13, and 14. To verse 12, 13, and 14. Verse 12 says okay, well, before I read that to you, I need to understand what's happening. So, because God dealt with them in this way, they said I read to you where they said we can't keep this God. He's against us, he's against our God. We've got to get rid of him.

28:53
They literally took him and moved him to different cities, in amongst their people, amongst the Philistines, and this problem went with them everywhere they went until finally they had a council together of the lords of the Philistines, all the heads of the Philistines and they said we've got to send it back. And they talked to their magicians and their wise people to say how should we send it back? And they decided to send it back on a cart where and they took two cows milk cows and took their babies from them. Well, if you know anything about that process, if you take a milk, a milking cow, mother and the baby away, she will cry for her baby. She will not. She will not leave her baby. She will want to be with her baby.

29:35
And they said if it's God, these cows, when we put the ark on this cart, plus, they put images that they created of gold, golden rods and mice that represented the sickness that God brought on them and also, uh, the heads of them and as an offering, saying we were wrong, we shouldn't have done this. So they're putting an offering on the cart. But they put the cart on the road and said if the cart goes straight to where it had come from, where we stole it from, if the cart goes back and those cows don't turn back and come for their babies, then we know that God is the one who brought this on us. But if the cart doesn't stay straight on the path, then this will just be. We will understand. It was a coincidence. It was just a coincidence that these happened to us, this thing happened to us and it had nothing to do with a God or his power, and that this God didn't have any power at all. So God is being put to the test here by the Philistines. And so the cows are hooked up to the cart, the offering is put on the cart and the Ark of the Covenant is put on the cart.

30:45
So let's look what happened, verse 12. And the cows went straight I'm sorry, I lost my place and the cows went straight in the direction of Beth Shemesh along one highway lowing. As they went, they cried for their babies, but they could not turn back. God was calling them on that path forward. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them. So they're following to make sure the cows go all the way, as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. So all the way, the whole way.

31:26
Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there, and I'll we'll finish this verse. But there's, there's a beautiful thing here, and I'll we'll finish this verse. But there's, there's a beautiful thing here. A great stone was there and they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. So you can see, they're wanting things to be right. They know that this is an act of God, that this ark is returning to them, that God's presence, this represented God's presence, that his presence was coming back amongst the people. And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them up upon the great stone. And the men of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord.

32:37
So, and then it says in verse 16, that the Lords of the Philistines saw this. They understood God had done this to them. So the purpose was fulfilled. God said this was not by, uh, by coincidence, not by chance. Yes, this is me, and I'm telling you, I will deal with you. You think you've captured me. You think you have power over me. You do not. I'm the one who holds all the power. But let's go look at verse 19. So this is a.

33:09
In this event of things, these people are so happy to have the ark back and you would, you would be able to see some confusion here for them. Again, all of the confusion that we ever feel for the most part not always, but for the most part is because we don't know. We don't understand when we don't know the word and we don't understand the word, we don't know what's in here, we don't understand the ways of God. We can be confused by what it seems that God is doing or not seems what he actually is doing, and it's because we don't have understanding. Verse 19 says and he struck some of the men. He meaning God. And he struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck 70 men of them and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow.

34:14
Now this shows right now I'm going to read to you in verse 20. You will see how much they did not know the ways of God at this point. They thought they did. They thought they understood his presence. I mean, they knew we want his presence, but they didn't understand the ways of God Verse 20. We want his presence, but they didn't understand the ways of God Verse 20,. Then the men of Beth Shemesh said who is able to stand before the Lord? This holy God? They even understand. Obviously he's very holy and we're missing it. And to whom shall he go up away from us Like? Who can even take him to the next place that he's supposed to be? So they sent messengers into the inhabitants of Kiriath-Jerim saying the Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up for you, okay, so why did God strike them Again? It's the exact same reason why everything that happened to this point happened.

35:15
They looked inside the ark. It was very specifically spoken when God through Moses about the ark of the covenant. This should have been known amongst the priest and this should have been known amongst his people. But you were never. Even the high priest could only go in once a year into the actual Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was. Only then, not whenever he wanted. He didn't have free reign. Just because he was the high priest, he couldn't go and do what he wanted when he wanted. It was by instruction of the Lord, and it was because God is holy. So you would do what he says is right, you would follow his instructions. You would understand that you are simply human, the created that you do not understand all things, you do not know all things. So it's important that we get this. And they looked inside the ark, which was strictly forbidden, strictly forbidden, and because of this God struck them why they were mishandling the presence of God, mishandling his holiness.

36:27
Folks, it's important that when we live our lives and we throw his name out there, we lightly. We lightly use the name Jesus and Christians I mean, my goodness, even amongst those who call themselves Christians, they might accidentally swear, curse and use God's name. Folks, we have to understand he's holy and if we don't understand that that's not holy, that's a problem. That's a real problem. If we do not understand the difference between what is holy and what is profane, that means our consciences have either been seared or we are brand new and we have not read this word yet. To understand, there are only two options. This word is available Now.

37:20
I know there are places where the word of God is not available. I mean, this is why this very book gets destroyed. There are nations and leaders who try to destroy and remove the word. This is why in places like China you can have a Bible. But it's been changed. It's not God's holy. It's been changed so that it is honoring to whoever is the communist leader is, and the government that it doesn't. It won't say anything against government, they'll just take all that stuff out. It's been modified, it's been changed. We don't get to change it. We don't get to modify it. This word is holy, it's holy and it shows us who our holy God is.

38:09
And I have no excuse If I have eyes to read or ears that could hear, because there are programs where you could listen to the word of God even if you don't read it, but to know what it says is available to me. In this United States we have an abundance. You could go on Amazon If there were bookstores anymore. You can go in any bookstore. It is the most printed book ever. You can get a hold of a Bible. I have this. Behind me is a cabinet and in here it is full of Bibles. I have so many Bibles. I have no excuse. No excuse. I have made sure that people that I know who are brand new Christians, I give them a Bible because we need to know the God that we say we serve, not the God that we say we know about him. But if he's Lord, he's either Lord of everything or he isn't Lord of anything. There is no he's Lord over my life on Sundays for an hour. He's either Lord of everything or you have made him Lord of nothing. This applies to me, to you, to everyone. This is just the way it is. This is just. It is what it is.

39:33
Okay, let's look at chapter seven. So, chapter seven, this is the key. I told you there was going to be keys. These are the keys. I want you to be thinking about this. You might want to take some notes. First, six verses of chapter seven.

39:49
And then the men of Kiriath-Jerim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son, eleazar, to have charge of the ark of the Lord. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed. Long time passed, some 20 years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. I hope you have been staying with me. I know this is deep. I go deep and I'm trying to give you the whole picture here. But this is this is so. This is the PowerPoint, this is it right now.

40:34
For 20 years they had the ark back. They had God's presence was supposed to be evident amongst them, yet they were still in service to the Philistines, they were still under bondage to the Philistines and for 20 years they lived like this, in this confusion and this bondage of having what should have been God's presence in their life and yet not seeing deliverance. Can you relate? Can you relate? Let's read verse three. Well, before I read you verse three, I'll read it to you first, but I want to go back, because it says they lamented after the Lord. I want to tell you what that really means. So verse three and Samuel said to all the house of Israel so they're finally getting a word from the man who can hear God and who does obey God, and he's bringing the word of the Lord to them.

41:47
If, if. This is a big if, because he knows you've had the ark and you didn't do what God wanted you to do with it and you've mishandled him. So this is a big if. For 20 years you've gotten it wrong. Here's the big if. If you are returning to the Lord. If this lamenting for 20 years is real, if this lamenting for 20 years is real, if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart not a part of it, not a portion of it, all of it, all your heart then so only if with all produces a, then Then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreth and they served the Lord only. Okay, this is again one of those scriptures that you could say, jamie. How in the world does that apply to me? Great for them. They had idols. They put away their idols. We don't have idols. We don't serve idols. Yeah, maybe we do.

43:16
I've talked about this many times. If there is anything in your life that God is saying, put it away, stop doing that. Put it away. If there's anything that you give your heart to above him, if you're given the choice to do for God, with God, even if that's simply committing to going every Sunday to church, to reading your Bible every morning for at least 10 minutes, a chapter, giving your whole heart, meaning that, no matter what your day holds, your heart yearns to be with him first.

44:06
God, I need you today. God, I don't know which way to go. Today. I've got decisions to make. I've got so much on my plate. There's just too much to get done. I need you. I need you so much that, no matter how busy I think I am, I know I can't get it all done without your favor. So it's I need to spend time with you first, in order that I have enough time, because you can order my day, you can order my steps. You can remove things out of my way, you can prepare the way before me. You could put favor in front of me and open doors for me that I can't open, that I would spend all day pushing trying to open them. You can give me wisdom and insight to know what to do and how to do it, with whom to do it.

44:52
If you have that kind of heart, this is I want you first, before we pop the phone on, before we start scrolling. Is our heart his? Is it his first? Or is Instagram first? Is coffee your first thought? Not that we don't think. I can't see and I can't think I need my coffee, so get your coffee. I'm not telling you not to have coffee.

45:25
What comes first? What comes first for you? Is it what you want to do? Is it your own agenda? Do you write the rules for your life? Do you write the plan for your life, or has God designed the plan that you have agreed with? Or do you write the plan and you say, lord, come, bless it, because I'll show you what that means? I can have a plan and I can say, okay, lord, come, bless it. And guess what I'm doing? I'm just like the children of Israel who I'm out on the battlefield and I say, oh, I know I need God with me to make this good, so he'll bless me. Come, bring the ark, and then we'll be good. Yay, the ark is here.

46:06
And not realize that I have just completely mishandled and misused and illegally used his presence. I don't get to determine what the path is and then say, okay, come on, god, like he's my dog and I'm calling him, come on, come with me. No, my job is to go to him and say, like King David did so many times, should I go up? What should I do, lord? I can't do this without you. Some trust in horses and some trust in chariots, but I trust in the name of my God. I trust you, god. I look to the hills. From whence comes my help? My help comes from you, god, the maker of heaven and earth.

46:46
I don't trust my ability. I don't trust my knowledge. I don't trust my finances. I don't trust who I know. I trust you. You have a plan. Is this the way you want me to go? Or are you saying, no, don't go, I'm not going there? So if you go there, you're going without me. You might take the box, you might hold your Bible and say I take my Bible with me everywhere I go. But if you aren't going because God told you to go, we're doing just like the children of Israel. It's no different. I don't get to say come, bless what I'm doing. I instead say Lord, what are you doing? Let me join you, because whatever you're doing is blessed. Whatever you're doing. That's the right way. That's the thing I want to do. Put away. If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods. Let's look I want to re-emphasize go back to verses 3 and 4. Well, even before that. Let's go back to 2.

48:07
From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-Jerim, a long time passed, some 20 years, some 20 years and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. When I first read that it it I don't know how to say this, other than it sat on me, that word sat on me. It was like I felt the weight of that Kind of like when I said earlier about when I couldn't breathe in the Houston air, and maybe it's because it was the presence of God speaking to me and he was saying Jaime, do you hear, do you see this? Do you see the weight of this, do you see? Because we can be in something 20 years, 20 years waiting on God to do something, 20 years of not understanding something, walking with the Lord in confusion for 20 years. I feel like many of you can understand this and can relate to this. That's a long time, and so I wanted to explain to you what it means to lament.

49:28
Okay, I looked up the word lament in the Hebrew I'm going to give that to you first and it carries two ideas, and at first, when I read them, I thought these ideas seemed nothing alike, but then, as I read through them in more depth, I understood how they did come together, but they initially carry two very different looks and both of them are very critical and very important. So to lament first means to keep close, to stay loyal, to stick to so. For 20 years they have the ark and they are lamenting after the Lord. So they are in their heart, they're trying to stay close. They're trying to keep the ark close. They don't want to lose it again. They're trying to stay loyal. There's a knowledge in their heart that this is what's right, and I need God. I understand that much. I need him. They're trying to stick to him. It's like an exercise program You're trying to stick to it, or diet, stick to it.

50:48
But then the second thing that that word means is to wail, a lament, a cry to wail, to gather yourselves together. Now why would gathering ourselves together and wailing have anything to do with each other, and what does that have to do with keeping close and being loyal? All of this is the fullness of lamenting that we understand as a group, we messed this up. Understand as a group, we messed this up. This is important, even in marriage. When we're truly sorry and we lament, we want to do it together we to bewail, crying, assembling, lamenting and wailing. I looked this up just to see what Google would have to say about lamenting, and this is the definition Google gave me A passionate expression of grief or sorrow, to mourn, to express deep sorrow, grief or regret, often in a public or formal way, and is a form of prayer that involves turning to God with one's pain and suffering.

52:28
So you'll understand it's a lament if you're turning to God. It's simply bitterness. If I'm turning away from God, I'm lamenting when I turn to God. But if I'm holding God responsible and I have no responsibility in it, I've not bothered to see where I've gotten it wrong then that's simply my regret and bitterness about the situation has nothing to do with my relationship with God. So it's not a true lament and let me explain that.

53:07
When I looked this up in Google, it says that this is according to the Bible. Okay, this is Google's way of definition according to the Bible. So it's saying this is the way the Bible sees it Bible. So it's saying this is the way the Bible sees it. It's a way of expressing feelings of sorrow, mourning or regret, particularly to God. So I am sorry to God and to seek his comfort and guidance. So I'm coming to him, knowing he is my only source and I have been wrong somewhere. I have been wrong and I am bringing that repentance to him for not seeking him, for not wanting to know his way, for doing it, my way, for ending up in this mess, because I have handled his presence wrong. I am coming to him and I'm asking him to now comfort me, because I know he is the only way that I can be comforted. The only way to fix this is if God turns toward me. That's why the scripture says that if I will draw close to him, he will draw close to me. I'm wanting to be back in right fellowship with him, and that comfort I'm seeking from him is the guidance that I'm hoping he'll give me on how to move forward and to get out of this place, to be set free from this. Okay, here were some more things that it detailed. I'm just going to read them to you exactly as I saw them. It says this is a more detailed explanation.

54:49
So lament is a prayer in pain. It's a way to express deep sorrow and grief to God, acknowledging the pain and brokenness of the world and our own lives. Okay, it's not just an expression of sorrow or just about expressing sorrow. The goal of biblical lament is to recommit oneself to hoping in God and believing his promises, even in the midst of suffering. Well, that's what it looks like we saw happening here, okay. Thirdly, lament is a godly concept. It's a spiritual discipline and a powerful way to engage with God in difficult times. Also, it's a way to engage with God's character.

55:52
Laments are often appeals to God based on his attributes and his promises. Lament is a form of praise. Many laments in the Psalms end with a vow to praise God. And, lastly, examples in the Bible of lamentations, of laments. I should say the book of Lamentations is all a lament.

56:23
Many Psalms, and in the prophets, like Jeremiah, frequently use lament to express sorrow, grief and longing for restoration. Boy, that was so good. Inspiration Boy, that was so good. If you can understand what a true lament is, then you can understand my shock when it says that they have been lamenting for 20 years. That is a long time to lament. And this my surprise was that Samuel said if you're returning. So Samuel understood yes, I know you're crying out to God. Yes, I know you're praying. You've been asking him to answer this prayer for a very long time, but nowhere in this transaction of lamenting for 20 years did they bother to find out why God had not answered yet.

57:30
And so many times, I think, we face our situations like this we just look at whatever the trouble is, whether it's a battle against an enemy, whether it's an oppression we're dealing with, whether it is a bondage that we are under, something we're serving that we shouldn't be serving, something that should be serving us we are serving. Things are flipped in our life, something is wrong, and it's in that place that so many times we just stay in that place and just continue, like these, the children of Israel, to just cry to God and we'll say, well, I'm asking God, he doesn't answer me. I've been asking for years, jamie, I've been waiting for him to answer this prayer for years and he hasn't answered my prayer yet. The problem is this there's an if, which means that there is still something that I have not asked the Lord about in this. Now maybe he'll say be patient, I'm doing a work and I will answer that prayer.

58:37
I mean, you very well could be in an Abraham-Sarah situation and you're waiting 20 years for the promise of God. Keep hoping, keep believing in him, but every time that there was something that was wrong, they would get it right. They did the wrong thing, creating an Ishmael, but then, when it came time to put Ishmael out, they obeyed and they did what was right. There are times when we get it right and there's times when we get it wrong. And I'm not beating you on the head and saying you've got it wrong, because I get it wrong too.

59:12
I have to do this too. I have to dig in here and say oh God, what are you saying to me? What is the answer? Am I hearing you? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Am I mishandling you somewhere? Am I not truly engaged with all my heart? Because Samuel's word to them was you still don't understand? If you really are, then you have to turn to him with all your heart. What part of this are you still wanting to do it your way? What part of this are you still thinking you're in control or that you can control it somehow, by manipulation or whatever? What part are you still wanting your way? You're digging in your heels, you don't want to let go. What part is that you still wanting your way? You're digging in your heels. You don't want to let go. What part is that you are releasing your whole heart to the Lord? And then, finally, if you really are, and if this really is your whole heart, then put away whatever it is that he wants you to put away. Put it away.

01:00:26
For 20 years, israel had been lamenting after God, wanting his intervention, but time after time, the problem was the same. In our series that I did on Gideon, we saw this exact same problem. They thought they were serving God, but they were also serving the Baals and the Ashtoreths and all this stuff other foreign gods. Their heart was divided. Their heart was not solely belonging to God.

01:00:49
The people say that they love and serve God. They even really think they do. This is where we really miss it. We look and think, no, I really love Jesus. But Jim Baker I've mentioned this before Jim Baker, in prison once, was asked by John Bevere well, when did you stop loving Jesus for you to do the things that you did? And Jim Baker said I never stopped loving Jesus. I really loved him. I didn't fear him, which means he did not treat the holiness of God. He did not regard God as holy. He misused the presence of God. That's what he got wrong and many times that's us and we think, because we aren't extorting millions of dollars or we aren't having affairs all over the place or doing things on national television to misuse God's people or whatever, or our platforms or our churches, we think that we're in the clear. But it's all about the condition of the heart and God is not judging my heart based off of someone else's heart. He's basing my heart based off of what he is speaking to me individually. We have individual lives, individual callings and things God wants for us individually. It is very important. That's why the scripture says do not compare yourselves amongst yourselves. It is not wise. Now should we follow godly examples, but all along the way, making sure that it always adds up to scripture and that we are doing according to what god tells us.

01:02:28
There is a story in here and, uh, I believe it's in. I think it's in either first or second kings. I could be wrong. Anyway, god tells a young prophet to go in to give a particular word into this town and he says and I don't want you to stop Don't eat or drink, go, deliver the word. Don't eat or drink, don't sleep, go back home immediately. And he goes and delivers the word. He does what God tells him. Then, on his way back, an old prophet tells him no, stop in. Come on, have some bread, sit with me, it's okay. I'm a prophet too. God told me it's okay if you do this. And that young man, instead of listening to what he heard God say, listened to what the older prophet, who he honored, said to him. And God said you disobeyed me through this prophet and now you're going to die on the way home. And he died. A lion came out and attacked him, or a bear or something, and killed him.

01:03:30
We do not get to turn and say so-and-so told me. We go to the Lord and we say Lord, what are you saying to me If you're telling me not to do something? You know for my life, that's not good. It's not good. It's not good that I do this. I need to do what you tell me because you know what's good for my life, my personal life that affects me and the people around me and the things that I do and the places I go, which isn't the same for my neighbor. They'll go different places, have different experiences with their family, have different friendships, have different workplaces and different scopes of influence. We do what God calls us to do. It is so important. Okay, I left off, let's see. It is so important, okay, I left off. Let's see.

01:04:22
The people say they love God and they serve him. And I could confidently say that I think most of us think that very same thing. But they, even though they think they really are, they're missing what God is speaking to them directly. And God puts. Jesus put it this way you can't serve two masters. You can't have a part of me and your heart, be partly with me and then partly be with other things and other people, other gods.

01:04:57
In Matthew 6, 24, jesus said no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. This was evident when Jesus spoke to the young rich ruler, because he wanted him. He basically knew I know you think you want to follow me and you say you love me and want to follow me. The problem is you love money more. And it was proven when Jesus simply said okay, go sell all that you have and come follow me. And he went away sad. He went away sad. He thought he was doing everything God wanted him to do. He said what commandment do I need to do to enter the kingdom? What do I need to do? Jesus told him what he needed to do, but he was speaking a very direct word to him.

01:05:46
God isn't telling all of us to go sell everything we have, but he is talking to us individually. What is he telling you to put away? Put away. Put it away. Give me your whole heart. I'm wanting to bring deliverance. I'm wanting to set you free. I want the 20 years of lamenting to be over. I want you to rejoice in my presence and to have freedom and to be blessed and to live in the promise I've given you. But you have to put these things away. You have to understand. I'm holy. I'm not a genie in the bottle. I'm holy. This is so prevalent. This is relevant. This is a continuing issue to this day.

01:06:27
Our churches are full of people who serve God. Sometimes. They sometimes go to church. They sometimes read their Bible. They sometimes they do things when it's convenient for them, when it serves them, when they need something, when they want something. They talk God, they talk loving Jesus, but they still love and serve other gods, other things as well, it's mingled, it's co-mingled, and we don't get to mingle. The word says we are to come out and be you separate. We can't be mingled. It's co-mingled and we don't get to mingle. The word says we are to come out and be separate. We can't be mingled. There's nothing holy that can be mingled with that which is carnal. You can't mingle the two.

01:07:10
Samuel, the prophet, who was born by a miracle of God and dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth, with his entire life dedicated to God's service. This is the one who slept next to the ark, who fully understood God's presence and who could hear and who listened to God's voice. He's the one who tells us how to get answers to those laments from God. Let's look again. And Samuel said to all the house of Israel if you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

01:08:06
There is a huge chasm between hearing God and obeying God. Hearing God and obeying God the difference is hearing isn't doing. Doing isn't hearing. Obedience is actually hearing. To listen might mean life-altering changes for you, but it is the only way to see the victory you are looking for. It is the only way to stop the lamenting.

01:08:38
I have four different scriptures for you to write down so that you can keep these. Proverbs 8, verses 32 to 36, says Now then my children listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways, listen to my instruction and be wise, do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my 11, 28. He replied. Then, look at luke eleven, twenty eight, he replied. Blessed, rather, are those who hear the word of god and obey it. Hebrews 3.15 says, as has just been said today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. And then, finally, james 1.22 says Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourself. Do what it says.

01:10:27
It is clear, clear in scripture how we're to see victory in our lives. It is truly clear. We must put away whatever God is saying to put away, get it away from you, separate yourself from it, from them, from it from there, whatever it is that for two years God was telling them to stop a particular indulgence, and they just now have obeyed that word and they kind of said if I hear another message on obedience and yet that's the that's, it isn't it when God is so good to us and by his grace he keeps bringing the answer, even when we're ignoring him. You could be upset with me today by hearing this message and think I don't want to do that, I'm afraid to do that, it's going to cost me to do that, and you don't understand that your victory and your freedom and the answer and the hope you have been hoping for and lamenting for for so long is right on the other side of that obedience. It's that simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. It's simple.

01:11:56
When God is speaking to us, it is always because something has got your attention over him. It is a blockage to your breakthrough, your deliverance, your victory to his favor, to intimacy with him. To not listen is not only rebellion, but then we are only fooling and deceiving ourselves to think we are following Jesus if we won't follow. I can't call myself a follower if I'm actually not following. If he's saying go this way, don't turn this way, don't touch that, make sure you do that, that's following. If I'm ignoring all of those little things that I'm hearing him say I'm not actually following. It's really simple. John 10, verse 4 and 5 says 5 says when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will27 says my sheep listen to my voice and I know them and they follow me. I saw this reel recently and it is the exact depiction of this very thing in real time, a real thing happening. A real shepherd with sheep. Take a look at this One more time.

01:13:58 – Jaime Luce (Ad)
Ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka, ticka. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh, that's amazing, isn't that amazing? They're coming. Oh my God, oh my God, that's amazing, oh my God, this is so cool. Oh my God, this is amazing. One more, one more. This scared the. Yeah, eunice made him go away. If we call ourselves his and expect him to also be ours, we must live as he has instructed and expect him to also be ours.

01:15:38 – Jaime Luce (Host)
We must live as he has instructed. We have to live holy lives. He's a holy God. Be ye holy, for I am holy, was his command. He is the giver of life. We literally live and breathe because he gave us the air in our lungs. He is the author of life. Breathe because he gave us the air in our lungs. He is the author of life.

01:16:01
What life is and what life should be and how it is to be lived, both for his glory and for our benefit. It really is this simple we must decide we want life with him, with and next to this constant I'm sorry, with him and next to his constant presence, or we want life without him. We don't get to have it both ways. Fighting against his will is foolish, it is fruitless and it ultimately ends in death, first spiritually and eventually eternally. I feel like Samuel today and I'm asking you, I'm putting this to you if you really are serious, then turn to him with all your heart and put away whatever he's asking you to put away, so that he can deliver you and bring you the freedom you've been looking for.

01:17:07
Let me pray for you, father. I just thank you for your word. What would we do without your word? How could we know you? I'm so grateful that you have spoken to us by your word, that you have instructed us, that you loved us enough to show us the way that, even when things are difficult, even in suffering, we can lament and bring our hearts to you, God, and be shown the right way that we can make right whatever is wrong, trusting you to fulfill every promise that you have made to us. I ask you, father, today, that you would speak to each heart today. They need you. Their desire for you, father, I pray, will be fulfilled to your fullest extent, that every blessing you have for them will be thrust upon them as they pour out their heart and give their lives to you, and we will be so careful to bring you the glory that you deserve. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

01:18:15
Thank you so much for spending time with me today. In his word, I pray that this has stirred your heart. If you feel like there is someone you know who needs to hear this message, share the message. Let's be bold in our faith, Share the message and let's see what God will do, how he will bless, how he will answer our heart's cry. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to pray for you. If you have any prayer requests or praise reports, you can send an email to me at mail at jamielucecom, or visit my website. You can get a hold of everything there and every way to contact me there as well. That's J-A-I-M-E-L-U-C-E. We'll see you next time.